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Cost of Requirements Errors
publish date: 2026/06/06 23:20:11.954758 UTC
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True or False: The cost of fixing a requirements error is usually much greater than fixing a design or coding error, because requirements changes ripple into design, implementation, and re-testing.
Correct Answer
True
Explanation
Requirements errors are the most expensive to fix. A change to requirements typically requires the system design and implementation to also change, followed by full re-testing. This makes early and thorough requirements validation critical — errors discovered after delivery can be orders of magnitude more expensive than those caught during RE.
Reference
Software Engineering, Ian Sommerville, 9th edition